The World Methodist Council has announced the award of its Peace Prize 2000 to Nelson Mandela. The announcement was made by the presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church in Southern Africa, Bishop Mvume Dandala. Previous recipients of the award have included Kofi Annan, Mikhail Gorbachev and Anwar Sadat. An Irish recipient was the late Senator Gordon Wilson.
In announcing the award, Bishop Dandala said "Dr Mandela personifies the criteria on which this prestigious award is based - courage, creativity and consistency." He referred to Dr Mandela's commitment to peace, and to his vision of a free and democratic South Africa sustained through 27 years in prison.
The chairperson of the World Methodist Council, Dr Frances Alguire of Minnesota said, "No one person in the latter half of the 20th century is more a symbol of freedom, justice and peace." She went on to pay tribute to his remarkable freedom from bitterness.
Responding to the announcement, Dr. Mandela said, "I have been honoured in many nations of the world, but the greatest honour of my life is to be honoured by my church." The award was presented to Dr Mandela in Cape Town on September 21st.
The Rev. David Rock of Newtownabbey plans to visit the Holy Land at the beginning of November to ride a bicycle there. Three years ago he participated in a sponsored bike ride to raise funds for the Nazareth Hospital, and his sponsorship raised just over £4,500. This year he hopes to return to participate in a similar event. The intention is that 100 riders from different nations will cycle from Mount Sinai to Galilee via Jericho. The altitude of the course varies from 360 metres below sea level to 500 metres above, and finishes with a stiff climb to the Nazareth Hospital itself. The money raised is to be used to provide a fund for the training of doctors and nurses. Whether or not the event takes place this year depends, of course, on the outcome of present political negotiations.
The Morning Service to be broadcast on Sunday, October 22nd on RTE Radio 1 will be the first of its kind. It will be broadcast from the chapel of the Adelaide & Meath Hospital, incorporating the National Children's Hospital at Tallaght. The service, marking St Luke's Day, will be ecumenical and will be led by the members of the pastoral team at the hospital with members of the hospital staff. The broadcast will begin at 10.45 a.m.
The President of the Church, the Rev Kenneth Todd, will tomorrow morning visit the church in Tandragee, and in the evening will preach at the Bloomfield church in Belfast. On Tuesday he will meet the churches in Sydenham, Belfast. On Saturday, October 21st, Mr Todd will dedicate the new halls beside the church at Seymour Street in Lisburn. On the following day he will visit the churches at Belvoir and Cairnshill in Belfast. That evening he will be the guest preacher at Hill Street Presbyterian Church in Lurgan.